The President of Timor-Leste signs a plaque inaugurating a new project in Maluru village, Quelicai-Baucau
The President of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, Mr. Taur Matan Ruak, accompanied by the Secretary State of Local Development (SSLD) Mr. Samuel Mendonca, has inaugurated a PNDS project in Maluru village, Administrative Office of Quelicai, Baucau. (12/12/2014).
In the inauguration speech, the President of the Republic expressed his gratitude for and happiness with the participation of all the people who have contributed to the PNDS program. “The inclusion of the community is a key to the development of this country”, stated the President of the Republic, Mr. Taur Matan Ruak
The President of RDTL defends a governance which gets closely to the people and the PNDS is a concrete example of how the government established a close link with the community in order to address the difficulties of development faced by the rural communities, as in the PNDS program communities are fully responsible to implement the program and manage the own funds allocated to them by the government.
Laura Epifania F. gives appreciation to PNDS
Mr. Samuel Mendonça, who took part in this ceremony, said it was a great honor that the President of the Republic took part in the inauguration of this PNDS project. This inauguration is the first event that saw the participation of our President of the Republic.
The presence of PNDS program in the Maluru village is very helpful. Laura Freitas Epifania, an EIP secretary said that “We, the community of Maluru village, had enormous difficulties in reaching health facilities, especially pregnant women, our babies, and the elderly could not walk for long distances, but now we are happy because we have a mobile clinic, we believe that in the future, we will have our own doctor or nurse who can work closely with our communities’.
The implementation of the PNDS projects at Maluru village was directly managed by women, of the 11 people involved in the Community Management Team (CMT) 10 are women. Even though they faced many obstacles in the implementation of the PNDS program but the community with integrity managed to successfully build the projects they have determined.
The PNDS program is a community based-program implemented by the Government of Timor-Leste as a National Program. This program mostly focuses on development at hamlet and village level paying attention to the difficulty faced by the communities regarding basic infrastructure development.
Maluru village is a village where the PNDS was implemented in the first phase, 3 projects were realized in this village:
- The new construction of a clinic or health center at Loilubu hamlet for a total amount of $17,002.65 USD,
- The new construction of a community center at Samafani hamlet for a total amount of $15,149.90 USD and
- The rehabilitation of clean water project at Samarogo hamlet for a total amount of $11,847.45 USD.
